1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of, and apparatus for, inspecting hot, freshly formed glass containers as they travel, in sequence, to a processing or other treatment station.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,368 (Sager), which was assigned to a predecessor of the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, it is important to inspect freshly formed glass containers, while they still possess considerable latent heat from their manufacture, to eliminate containers that are out of specification in any of several ways, such as by having two bottles stuck together, or are out of position on a container transfer conveyor, such as by being xe2x80x9cdownxe2x80x9d on their sides. The aforesaid ""368 patent proposed to accomplish such inspection by sensing radiant heat emitted by the bottles as they passed, in sequence, past radiation sensing probes. However, the probes used in the apparatus of the ""368 patent did not adequately focus the emitted radiation, and required too many time-consuming adjustments to permit them to be employed on a regular basis in a high production glass container manufacturing plant.
The problem of detecting out of orientation conditions in a procession of freshly formed glass containers is also addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,656 (Shay et al.), which teaches the use of radiant energy directed toward the containers, for example, from a laser, and sensing the presence or absence of such radiant energy in relation to the presence or absence that would be experienced if the containers were properly oriented, as a way of detecting a misoriented condition of any of the containers. However, the equipment needed to practice the teachings of the ""656 patent is expensive, and it cannot be readily adapted to the inspection of containers being conveyed on dual, side by side conveyors from a single forming machine, an arrangement that is characteristic of modern, high production glass forming machines, because of the need to arrange the laser radiation devices facing inwardly, toward one another, which can lead to interference between the sensed signals of oppositely facing lasers.
The aforesaid and other problems associated with the inspection of freshly formed glass containers are overcome by the method and apparatus of the present invention, in which radiant energy emitted by the containers, because of the latent heat they still possess from the manufacturing process, is sensed by an optical, focused sensor as the bottles are conveyed in sequence past the sensor, or past a multiplicity of like sensors that inspect the containers for various out of specification or out of orientation conditions. The arrangement of the invention is easily adapted to a dual conveyor system because the sensors are positioned externally of the conveyors and face inwardly, requiring only a baffle or radiation shield between the conveyors to prevent a sensor from sensing the condition of a container on the away conveyor rather than the near conveyor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of, and apparatus for, inspecting hot, freshly formed glass containers, as the containers move in sequence toward a processing station, for an out of orientation or out of specification condition. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus as described above that is readily adaptable to the inspection of containers being conveyed on dual, side by side conveyors.
For a further understanding of the present invention and the objects thereof, attention is directed to the drawing and the following brief description thereof, to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and to the appended claims.